Amazon and Flipkart report blockbuster sales in October
Online retailers Amazon India and Flipkart reported blockbuster sales in the festive season. Sales in October were three times the average revenue they generated in months in which big sales events are absent, they said.
Amazon’s website drew the highest traffic in India and also generated the highest transactions, head of Amazon.com’s India business, Amit Agarwal, said in an interview, citing IMRB data.
“More than half of India’s online shoppers shopped on Amazon.in this festive season, according to that data. Additionally, more than 70,000 sellers received more than one order this festive season,” Agarwal said on Monday.
Sales of Amazon Prime, the company’s popular subscription programme, doubled from that of last year, he added.
“We exceeded our most ambitious plans across all dimensions in terms of new customer growth, unit sales and in terms of GMS (gross merchandise sales) and Prime growth,” said Agarwal.
Flipkart countered Amazon’s claims of market leadership.
“We’ve managed to maintain the market share (lead) of 70-30 during this BBD (Big Billion Days), we believe,” said Smrithi Ravichandran, senior director at Flipkart.
“We’ve ensured that we’ve retained the leadership and more in categories like mobile, large appliances and fashion. From a GMV (gross merchandise volume) standpoint, we’ve grown by over 90% from last year.”
The festive season face-off between Flipkart and Amazon is the biggest annual showdown in the Indian e-commerce industry and usually sets the tone for the market share battle between the two rivals over the subsequent quarters.
Mint had reported last month that Flipkart and Amazon posted record sales in early October, underscoring the revival of e-commerce in the country.
Amazon India holds its Great Indian Festival sale that is rivalled by Flipkart’s flagship event, The Big Billion Days (BBD).